Chelsea are working on a deal to bring Manchester United outcast Anthony Martial, rated at £58.5m by Transfermarkt, to Stamford Bridge, according to The Times.

What's the story, then?

The report says that the French wideman - who has dropped down the United pecking order since the January arrival of Alexis Sanchez - has rejected the offer of a new contract at Old Trafford.

They claim that Maurizio Sarri faces competition from German champions Bayern Munich but neither side wishes to pay United's huge £89.3m asking price, but are buoyed by Martial's desire to leave and Jose Mourinho's willingness to sell.

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail report that Chelsea expect United to match Barcelona's £65m offer for their unsettled winger Willian, who was a favourite of Mourinho when he was in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Swap deal works better for Chelsea

Martial is an incredible talent but United's current asking price is way too high for someone who is on the fringes of the first team, with just one year left on his deal, plus the option for the Red Devils to renew for one more.

Chelsea have to find a way of making the deal affordable and Willian represents the ideal solution for them. Somehow, Barcelona have set the going rate for the ageing winger somewhere around £65m and United may well be tempted to do a deal that allows them to get the specialist winger Mourinho desires.

From United's point of view, they would get a winger they want an offload an unsettled player with an expiring contract, but Willian is seven years older than Martial. The potential they would be losing would be huge, and Chelsea would be the real winners, with Olivier Giroud likely to be loving the prospect of playing with his French compatriot.

[brid autoplay="true" video="255887" player="12034" title="Watch Chelsea's opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season"]